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Messerschmitt Me.410-1/U2 & U4 (A04066) 1:72 Airfix The sleekly styled, twin-engined Me.410 Hornisse started life as the Me.210, the intended replacement for the Bf.110 that was already showing its age, and forward-thinking planners correctly anticipated that if war broke out, it would quickly be outclassed, leading to heavy losses. The replacement process was begun before WWII started in the West, but turned into a protracted gestation due to problems that presented themselves before it could be turned into a viable heavy fighter/bomber. The Me.210 was a flawed concept that suffered from unpleasant and sometimes dangerous handling characteristics, garnering such a poor reputation that when the substantial changes needed to fix these problems (initially designated the 210D) were underway, the decision was made to rename it the Me.410 to distance it from its origins. The 410 utilised an improved DB603A engine, lengthened the fuselage over the 210 to improve the centre of gravity, utilising an amended wing planform to give it a constant sweep-back of the leading edge to bring the aerodynamic centre further forward. Coupled with leading-edge slats that had been removed from the initial 210 design, the resulting aircraft that was significantly more pleasant to fly, had a respectable top speed and could carry a substantial war-load. On entering service in 1943, its initial success as a night bomber over the UK was most definitely not a portent of great things to come. The 410 was a day late and a dollar short so to speak, and no sooner had it reached the front-line and started attacking the bomber streams, than the Allies darkened the skies with fast, manoeuvrable single-engined fighters such as the Spitfire and Mustang, which could easily out-fly the 410, a problem that would be exacerbated by later designs such as the P-47 Thunderbolt and the P-38 Lightning. Pitched into battle without fighter cover, they were easy prey to the Allied fighters, and the balance was only slightly shifted by the introduction of Bf.109 and Fw.190 escorts. Production ceased in August 1944 to concentrate dwindling manufacturing capacity on the Emergency Fighter Programme for the ultimately unsuccessful defence of the Reich. Due to its relatively short career, the marks that saw action progressed only as far as the B model, although high altitude C and D models were on the drawing board, but never saw service. Despite its flaws, the 410 was quite innovative in its weapons carriage, and had a nose-mounted weapons bay directly under the cockpit, which could house a palette of munitions, either bombs, cannon, reconnaissance cameras or the 50mm Bordkanone that was used to attack daylight bomber streams. Due to the upgraded engines that gave it more capacity in the bomber role, a pair of bomb shackles had to be added to the inner wing undersides to accommodate the extra load. The twin remote controlled "barbettes" on each side of the mid fuselage were also of note, as they were controlled by the rear gunner from the aft cockpit using a traditional pistol-grip system could also pivot up and down, but the barrels could also be rotated out sideways to fire one of the two barbettes at an off-centre target behind them. Movement and aiming was all carried out using controls attached to the pistol grip, and must have surprised more than one potential assailant. The A-1 model was designated as a Light Bomber, a job that it was well suited to, giving the Allies a run for their money on night operations, where they proved difficult to catch. The 410’s equipment bay right beneath the pilot in the A-1 accommodated the nose armament of a pair of MG17s and MG151/20 cannons, plus shackles for droppable munitions, with a maximum of 1,000kg. A pair of 500kg bombs was the usual, but other stores could be carried. The underside of the nose bay had two clamshell doors that partially retracted into the fuselage, allowing easy exit for the bombs. After the war, several of these interesting aircraft were taken as war prizes by the Allies, but sadly only two full airframes exist today, one in RAF Cosford in a fully-restored state, which until the 1980s was capable of ground-running despite props that were shortened to equalise their lengths after an “incident”, the other awaiting preservation in the US at the National Air & Space Museum. The Kit This new tooling from Airfix was announced only shortly before release, and caused a stir amongst 1:72 modellers, as it was an unexpected new tooling, and a slightly unusual subject matter when you consider its relatively short length of service. The kit arrives in Airfix’s red-themed top-opening box, and inside are six sprues of dark grey styrene, a separately bagged clear sprue, decal sheet inside the instruction booklet that is printed in colour on matt paper that is accompanied by a single A4 colour printed sheet of profiles for painting and decaling the model. Detail is excellent, and the part-count at 137 is commensurately high, with much work going into the cockpit, weapons bay, gear bays and the other usual focus areas, plus finely engraved panel lines and crisp clear parts that have been engineered in sections to recreate the twin bulged aft sections around the gunner’s position. Construction begins with the cockpit floor, which has the side consoles moulded-in and has decals to highlight the details. A window is inserted into the forward floor, installing the gun pack below in what will become the weapons bay. A scrap diagram shows the location of two 1mm holes that should be drilled in the floor before the next step, which is fitting the pilot’s seat and the bulkhead with head-rest behind him. The control column and a small instrument rack are fixed to the floor, then an extension to the cockpit is fitted behind on a lug, which is used to support the frame around the gunner’s position, adding extra details to the frame before joining it, and a suspension arch in the weapons bay below it. Work on the cockpit stops for a while, as the gunner’s position is built on the wing lower, which must be built next. The lower wings are moulded almost full-span, drilling out flashed-over holes depending on which decal option you have chosen. A combined spar and gear bay bulkhead part is inserted into grooves in the lower wing, strengthening the assembly further, then adding the gunner’s compartment, which is made from a tub with a separate rear that is covered with moulded-in radio gear boxes, and the seat on the top edge of the area. It mounts in the centre of the wing aft of the spar on four turrets, the forward edge of the compartment butting up against the spar, overlapping it slightly. A triangular door insert fills the gear bay opening for the gear-up option, then the bays themselves are installed, with plenty of moulded-in detail for the avid viewer to look at. The fuselage must be completed next to join the two crew compartments, in advance of finishing the wings. The starboard fuselage half has an electrical panel applied near the rear of the cockpit, and half of the pilot’s instrument panel plus decal at the front, adding a bulkhead to the front of the tail-wheel bay, painting it all interior green RLM02. The port side has just the instrument panel half installed and decal at the front, then has the cockpit glued into position, with location assisted by a scrap diagram nearby, then the fuselage halves are joined around a drum without glue, which will be the base for the rear gun barbettes. Once the glue has cured and you have dealt with the seams in your usual manner, the fuselage is lowered onto the lower wing taking care not to damage the gunner’s compartment, and is glued in place, followed immediately by the two upper wing halves. With the glue cured and seams dealt with, you have a choice of dropped or retracted leading-edge slats, using different parts for each option, and ensuring you don’t get them mixed up! The elevators are next, and again you have a choice by using different parts, offering dropped elevators without having to do any additional work, or having them neutral by replacing the lower section that has the flying surfaces moulded-in. The assemblies fit into slots in the tail with zero dihedral, and the rudder panel is inserted into the fin, which can be posed deflected as you wish. The engine nacelle fronts are made from two halves, adding the cooling bays from two parts each underneath, then sliding them into position in the wing fronts, leaving the small gear bays open to receive the struts later in the build. Another choice is armament in the weapons bay, depending on which decal option you are portraying, each one having a different set of doors for the relevant armament. Decal option A is the U2 variant that carries a pair of 20mm MG 151/20 cannons in a pod inside the bay that has 250 rounds available and fitted on a peg inside the bay, with an insert on each side that is moulded to a carrier. The U4 carries the long-barrelled 50mm Bordkanone with 22 rounds, the barrel for which is installed in the separate cowling that uses the same insert at the rear. The completed assembly of choice is then glued into place under the nose to complete its distinctive snub-nosed profile. The next choice is whether you wish to depict the radiator fairings with the cooling flaps open or closed. The radiator cores are common to both options, and the two sides are joined by a trio of turrets, then they are inserted into the radiator fairing of choice, adding the sides to the assembly appropriate to the position. The outer flap panels are inserted into gaps in the wings behind the radiators at 10° deflection for the open option, then the fairings are installed into the depressions in the underside of the wings to complete them. The ailerons are next in line outboard, and are fitted with a pair of horn balances into slots in the parts before they are installed in their bays, and these can be posed deflected if you wish. There is still much to do, starting with the exhaust stubs that are moulded on a carrier, and slotting them into the nacelles on each side, then adding flare hiders that help protect the pilot’s night vision and make the aircraft less visible at night. The barbettes on the sides of the fuselage must be glued carefully to ensure they remain mobile, adding the gun barrels into the slot at the rear of the fairing to complete them. If you are building your model on the ground, the main wheels of the 410 are supplied in well-detailed halves with a smooth tyre that has a little sag moulded-in to depict the weight of the aircraft compressing them. Each gear strut has a separate scissor link spanning the black gaiter over the oleos, adding a retraction jack behind the leg as they are inserted into the bays, gluing the wheels on the inboard side, and fitting a bay door to the front of the bays. For retracted wheels, a single part covers the tail-wheel bay, which is substituted by a pair of linked open bay doors for the wheels-down option, after which the nicely detailed tail-wheel strut with moulded-in wheel is glued into the bulkhead inside the bay. The next option is dependent upon whether you drilled out holes in the lower wing earlier, which receives two underwing tanks that are made from two halves with handed support frames suspending them under the aircraft. The three-bladed props are moulded as one part, and are trapped between the spinner and back plate, then a stepped washer is slipped over the axle at the rear without glue, and is trapped in position by another washer that is glued into position to allow the prop to remain mobile unless you overdo it. The two completed props are slotted into the fronts of the engine nacelles, and these can be left until after painting to avoid damage or messing up part of your paint job. Before the canopy can be installed, two triangular supports are added to the space between the crew positions, and the gunner’s two-part control centre with pistol-grip is fitted at the rear of his compartment. The unusual glazing strip that extends the pilot’s view over the nose is different depending on which armament option you have chosen, using different parts accordingly, then building the complex shaped canopy from three components. The windscreen has the entire canopy roof moulded-in, and it is completed by gluing the two side glazing components to the sides to achieve the correct tapering, yet bulbous shape at the rear. This is glued into position along with a radio mast offset to the starboard roof frame between the crew stations at an angle to the vertical from the front, adding a pitot probe to the port wingtip, and if the aircraft is wheels down, a crew access footstep that drops from the fuselage on the port side. Under the fuselage are fitted a long towel-rail antenna and another straight mast with a bulbous end. Markings There are two decal options on the sheet, which share the same splinter scheme on the wings, but have different patterns and mottling on the fuselage. From the box you can build one of the following: 11./Zerstörergeschwader 26, Gardermoen, Norway, 1945 Stab II./Zerstörergeschwader 26, Königsberg, 1944 Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Because of the proximity and limited space between the fuselage and engine nacelles, scrap diagrams show the locations of the various markings and stencils in those locations that would be invisible on standard profiles. Conclusion This is an extremely well-detailed modern kit with an interesting choice of weapons fits and plenty of other options to personalise your model. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

The Messerschmitt Me.410 Hornisse - Airframe Album 16 A Detailed Guide to The Last Zerstörer (inc. Me.210 & Me.310) ISBN 9781912932139 Valiant Wings Publishing The Me.410 had a long and tortured history, beginning life as the Me.210 that was supposed to be a replacement for the ageing Bf.110 in the Zerstörer role, but the initial design suffered from some serious aerodynamic issues that made it an utter pig to fly as well as dangerous, with later improvements leading to the Me.310 that was still unfavourably rated due to the lack of effectiveness of the changes, forcing a more drastic set of re-designs that were given another new name to distance it from its abysmal ancestors. Thus the Me.410 came out of the dog house and was considered worthy of production, despite it still being far from flawless even with new slatted wings, extended fuselage and more powerful twin DB603A engines. It was an interesting design, and incorporated new developments, such as the side-mounted barbettes that could pivot out from the fuselage under remote control of the rear crew-member, and automated leading-edge slats. Because of the delays while the potentially lethal aerodynamic characteristics and other kinks were ironed out, the aircraft didn’t see service until 1943, despite development beginning in 1939, which was a long gestation during wartime. It was used as a fighter and night bomber, having internal storage for some munitions, but as the design had improved the space became insufficient, so shackles were added to the wings to carry four more small diameter bombs. As usual with German WWII aircraft, so many variants were planned that the engineering effort was spread too thin, although over a thousand airframes were made by the end of the war. There were cannon armed variants, one fitted with a 50mm Bordkanone, and even an option for carriage of a torpedo. The Book The sixteenth volume of the popular and interesting Airframe Album series by Richard A Franks details this attractive-looking heavy fighter, its versions, dead-ends and dangerous issues. It spans 162 pages and is perfect bound in an A4(ish) portrait format. If you are familiar with the series you will know what to expect, with the book broken down into sections, as follows: i. Introduction A brief narrative history of the development and operational use of the Me.210 and Me.410 by the Luftwaffe, as well as those used by other Axis nations. 1. Technical Description Detailed coverage of construction and equipment 2. Evolution – Prototype, Production and Projected Variants 3D isometrics illustrating differences between variants 3. Projected Development of the Me.410 A series of period diagrams to show how the development of the Me.410 was envisaged in the May 1944 report by Messerschmitt 4. Camouflage & Markings Colour side profiles, notes and photographs 5. Model A build of the 1:48nd scale Me.410B-2/U4 from Meng by Steve A Evans. Appendices I Me.210/Me.410 Kit List II Me.210/Me.410 Accessory, Mask & Decal List III Bibliography As usual with Valiant's books, the pictures are both high quality and unusual, with lots of "behind the scenes" shots of production, testing and their ultimate capture by the Allies, plus plenty more pictures of the sole museum example in Europe (Cosford to be precise) – one of only two left in the world - for those needing reference pictures. I always find the 3D Isometrics very interesting to quickly view the differences between variants, especially as I have the memory of a goldfish. My favourite picture is of the Bordkanone equipped aircraft propped up on what look like breeze blocks during weapons testing. Very Heath Robinson. I also didn’t know about the plans for the revised canopy and the mounting of a larger 75mm BK in the D variant. Conclusion Valiant Wings publish a good book about interesting subjects, and this is one that tweaked my interest right away, as I’m a big fan of the 410. If you're a modeller, aviation buff or even just interested in engineering, this will make an interesting read, which you'll come back to again when you need it for references. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of